M12 - SEASON 12

M12 - SEASON 13

Broncos Finalize Opening Day RosterRunning back Juwan Thompson, an un-drafted free agent out of Duke University, was one of the surprise names on today's release of the Denver Broncos' opening day 53-man roster.

Today marks the final day of the preseason, and that means it's final cuts day in the NFL. What does that mean for every NFL team? Well, that means it's time to say goodbye to the camp bodies and reward those who fought hard and earned a roster spot on each respective team.

It also means that we've got real football right around the corner. I'm glad to be one of the first to say 'welcome back to football season, everybody.' But enough of the background, let's jump right into Denver's roster for the 2014 NFL season.

QuarterbackPeyton ManningZach DysertBrock OsweilerCUT: Bryn Renner

Who Made It & Who Was Cut?Osweiler and Dysert secured their roster spots, of which there was really never a question. UNC un-drafted rookie Bryn Renner hit the road, but he never had much of a chance anyway.

Who Made It & Who Was Cut?Montee Ball headed into camp as the clear cut favorite for the starting job with Knowshon Moreno's departure in the offseason. It was a question of who would make the roster behind him, and furthermore who would be in for snaps in a change of pace or passing down role. Bibbs and Thompson surprised many in the offseason and preseason with solid play when the pads went on, beating out incumbent C.J. Anderson. Ronnie Hillman seems solidified as Ball's back up, while Virgil Green returns to his H-Back (and de facto fullback) role in the Broncos' pass-happy offense.

Who Made It & Who Was Cut?Perhaps one of the most surprising cuts out of the Broncos' camp was Andre Caldwell -- a guy who had previously been considered a lock to make the team as a veteran receiver who knows the Manning system. UDFA receivers Isaiah Burse (Fresno St.) and Bennie Fowler (SMU) flashed enough on the field and returning kicks to beat out the incumbent Caldwell. The additions of Burse and Fowler made Jordan Norwood expendable as depth and in the return game. Palmer, a third-year former UDFA, is no stranger to final cuts.

Tight EndJulius ThomasJacob TammeGerell RobinsonCUT: Aaron Brewer

Who Made It & Who Was Cut?Orange Julius returns from a break out year in 2013 as one of Peyton's favorite targets heading into the season in 2014. Tamme should act as solid depth should Thomas face any injury concerns and contribute out of two tight end sets. Gerell Robinson, a converted wide out, held off a veteran acquisition in camp with solid play from both the slot and in-line spots. A long snapper by trade, Brewer was deemed as merely a camp body from the get-go.

Who Made It & Who Was Cut?Denver's already strong offense line in 2013 improved this year with the return of Ryan Clady (Lisfranc injury in 2013). Orlando Franklin is set to take over his new role at left guard, following the departure of former starter Zane Beadles (signed by Jacksonville), while Chris Clark will now start at right guard after guarding Peyton Manning's blind side for much of the 2013 season. Will Montgomery will serve as the primary back up along the interior, while any injury at tackle could force Franklin back outside while Montgomery takes over at guard -- offering Denver quite some flexibility in case of injuries. Rookies Michael Schofield and Matt Paradis made the team as depth, but should see only sparing time on special teams in their first NFL seasons. Veteran Winston Justice failed to make the squad after Schofield showed better in preseason games, while UDFA Paul Cornick and perennial practice squad member Ben Garland failed to make it through final cuts.

Who Made It & Who Was Cut?Denver's revamped defensive line features the return of Derek Wolfe (seizures in 2013) and the addition of pass-rusher DeMarcus Ware, replacing the departed Robert Ayers (signed by the Giants) left for greener pastures (and more money). Denver brought in a big body in Jerel Worthy to beef up the line opposite Terrance Knighton, while Sylvester Williams figures to rotate in on passing downs in his sophomore campaign. Quanterus Smith and Malik Jackson look to return to depth roles along the line as versatile back ups. Perhaps the most shocking cut is former starter Kevin Vickerson, who proved to be less than a match for the athletic Marvin Austin.

Who Made It & Who Was Cut?Von Miller and Danny Trevathan are primed to make everybody know how deadly the Broncos' linebacker corps can be when healthy. Trevathan had an injury scare in camp, but looks good to go for the regular season after successfully participating in the first three preseason games. Nate Irving and Josh Bynes look to make an impact from the mike spot while Barrow, McCray and Nelson will focus primarily on special teams. Jamar Chaney made the team as veteran depth behind Miller and Trevathan.

Who Made It & Who Was Cut?Denver has solid depth in the defensive backfield behind recent free-agent acquisition Aqib Talib, who replaces the departed Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (signed with New York). Fellow free-agent signee T.J. Ward figures to make an impact opposite a healthy Rahim Moore at safety, giving the Broncos a nice combo of power and coverage on the deeper portion of the defense. Rookie Bradley Roby is still fighting Tony Carter for time in the nickel sets, while Webster figures to contribute mostly as depth and on special teams. Bolden is set to return to a versatile back up role that saw him play at corner and both safety positions in 2013. With Quinton Carter and David Bruton as reserves, Denver's defensive backfield should be ready for anything this season.

Who Made It & Who Was Cut?Prater and Colquitt return as the big-legged duo of kicker and punter for the Broncos. Camp leg Brandon McManus, signed off of waivers from the Giants in the midst of Prater's substance-related scare earlier in camp, was let go when it became clear Prater would not miss any time due to the incident. Burse and Fowler are set as the primary returners for Denver this season.

Broncos Shake Up Roster, Trade OsweilerQuarterback Brock Osweiler (pictured), a 2012 second-round selection of the Denver Broncos (57th-overall) was traded to the Arizona Cardinals late Wednesday.

The Denver Broncos just can't seem to get their 2014 season going. On the heels of February's brutal Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Denver has followed up heartbreak with further distress, starting the season 1-6 -- their lone victory against the winless New York Jets.

General Manager John Elway decided enough is enough, and made some roster moves to shake up a group that seemingly is content to continue underachieving. Late Wednesday, Elway finalized a deal that sent former Arizona State quarterback Brock Osweiler to the Arizona Cardinals in return for a 2015 third-round pick and QB Logan Thomas, a fourth-round selection in this year's draft NFL Draft.

Osweiler, who has only attempted two passes for 13 yards this season, served as Peyton Manning's back-up for the past two seasons, and was assumed by many to be the hand-selected future successor to Manning by the ownership group. However, Osweiler's increasingly poor practice performance and selection of quarterback Zac Dysert (Miami of Ohio) in last year's draft have led to Osweiler's departure from Denver. Thomas will serve as the third quarterback behind Dysert for the remainder of his rookie season.

Additional moves by the Broncos include the signings of receiver Lestar Jean, running back Lorenzo Taliaferro and cornerback Curtis Marsh, while linebacker Philip Wheeler was awarded to the Broncos off of waivers from the Miami Dolphins. In accompanying transactions, the Broncos announced the release of running backs Kapri Bibbs and Juwan Thompson, receiver Isaiah Burse and linebacker Lerentee McCray. Bibbs and Thompson had originally made the roster as surprises to start the season, with Thompson taking a passing down role early on in the season. Burse lost a battle with fellow receiver Bennie Fowler for return duties, which led to his expendability. McCray played little outside of special teams.

Jean will move into a reserve role behind Denver's deep receiving corps, likely to only contribute if one of the big players were to miss time due to injury. Meanwhile, Taliaferro immediately jumps onto the scene as a contributor should he manage to displace under-achieving speedster Ronnie Hillman. Marsh and Wheeler will serve as versatile depth, while attempting to make an impact on special teams.

2015 Mid-Season ReviewWith Sunday’s heartbreaking loss to the Browns, the Denver Broncos have officially reached the midpoint of their 2015 schedule. Let’s take a look back at the first half of the season.

Schedule RecapWeek 1 – Broncos 24, Packers 10:The headless monster that is the Packers proved to be little trouble for Denver. While there may be no coach for the cheese heads, Zac Dysert at least showed he can game manage his way to a victory.Week 2 – Chiefs 20, Broncos 24:A hard fought victory of the Broncos, the Broncos came out the winners with a late score against averyhighguy to start out 2-0.Week 3 – Broncos 19, Chargers 17:Another nail biter, the Broncos pulled it out against tdwheat late in the game once again. Dysert showed his first signs of true trouble, throwing two picks as the defense secured the win with pick sixes by dime corner Kayvon Webster and new acquisition linebacker Derrick Johnson.Week 4 – Broncos 31, Jaguars 7:Following a disconnect that saw the Broncos securely winning, the computer Jaguars were little problem for the Broncos, who reached 4-0.Week 5 – Ravens 37, Broncos 3:The lone blow out on Denver’s schedule, the Broncos couldn’t get anything going against V1OL3NTBYD3S1GN. Dysert had a particularly brutal game, throwing three picks without scoring.Week 6 – Broncos 31, Lions 34:In similar style to most of the Broncos’ games this season, it was a nail biter to the end. Detroit coach UrbanaStyle pulled out the victory late in the game with a game winning field goal to drop the Broncos to 4-2.Week 7 – Broncos 13, Raiders 23:In a continuing fashion, the Broncos showed an inability to score in any way against Raiders coach SweetMojaveRain, falling to 4-3.Week 8 – BYEWeek 9 – Broncos 20, Browns 24:After starting off the game with a solid 17-0 run due to a couple pick sixes from Derrick Johnson and Kayvon Webster, the Broncos could not capitalize on an additional three picks and seven sacks, routinely failing to score on the goal line. Browns coach Rolph took this opportunity to make a late game comeback run of 24-3 to down the sliding Broncos.

Player NotesQB Zac Dysert 170 comp/243 att (70%), 1850 yards, 5 TD:18 INTWhile proving to be one of the most accurate passers in the league so-far, Dysert has routinely failed to get score in the redzone and make costly mistakes on his few incompletions. Logan Thomas is sitting in the wings waiting to take over should Dysert continue to falter.HB Montee Ball 107 att, 316 yards, 3.0 YPC, 5 TDBall has had an up and down season, managing only 3.0 yards per carry while scoring five times on the ground. Much of these struggles have to do with the Broncos’ pass happy game planning and poor run blocking from the OL, but regardless Ball will need to pick things up to keep his starting position.WR Demaryius Thomas 41 rec, 364 yards, 1 TDThomas has had a solid, if not impressive season thus far. Dysert’s inability to score in the redzone has hurt all of the receivers, with no single receiver totaling more than two touchdowns in eight games. A broken collarbone will sideline Thomas until week 15, where he will look to finish the season strong.WR Emmanuel Sanders 39 rec, 465 yards, 2 TDWhile Thomas is out, Sanders will look to build upon a good first half and look for more targets from Dysert. It’s possible Sanders will be forced to play outside of the slot until Thomas returns, which could be a challenge for the more diminutive receiver.WR Cody Latimer 42 rec, 458 yards, 1 TDLatimer has quietly had a good sophomore campaign behind Thomas and Sanders. Look for Latimer to see more targets with the absence of Thomas.TE Julius Thomas 26 rec, 414 yardsWhile receptions are down for the other half of the Thomas-Thomas duo, Julius is still making good plays with his fewer receptions. Orange Julius may be the biggest one to benefit from DT’s absence.MLB Derrick Johnson 38 tack, 1 sack, 4 INT, 2 TDProbably the biggest addition to the Broncos this year, Johnson stepped in immediately in the middle of the linebacking corps after his acquisition from Kansas City. The veteran has run back two of his four picks and is a solid presence over the middle.SS Donel Pickett 41 tacklesPickett became the favorite to start in the preseason following his fourth round selection this summer and the falling out of T.J. Ward in Denver. While Pickett needs to improve his concentration in pulling down potential picks, he’s been an asset as a run stopper and has broken up big plays downfield routinely.FS Rodriguez Gilmore 23 tackles 2 INTThe other half of the rookie safety duo, Gilmore has lived up to his first round pedigree with a solid yet unspectacular first half. Gilmore has been tasked by coach Dan Allen to work on his hands in pulling down potential interceptions.CB LaNeal Sharp 22 tackles, 1 sack, 3 INTMany questioned Allen’s decision to pass up Kayvon Webster as the nickel corner in favor of the rookie Sharp, who was viewed as more of a cover 2 corner. However, Sharp has proved to be especially productive for this defense and a steal out of the fifth round of the summer’s draft.LE Malik Jackson 15 tackles, 8 sacks, 1 FFJackson’s first year as the starter has proved to be a success for the Broncos. While providing a solid edge-setting in the run defense, Jackson has surprised as an effective edge rusher, leading the team with eight sacks.DT Sedrick Phillips 16 tackles, 5 sacks and DT Ray Gray 19 tackles, 5 sacksWhile the departure of ‘Pot Roast’ Knighton left some fans scratching their heads, Allen went ahead and selected Phillips in the first round and Gray in the second round, pulling out two solid starters with the picks. With some growth, the rookie duo should prove to make a solid interior line for the front seven.CB Kayvon Webster 7 tackles, 3 INT, 2 TDWhile Webster may not have won the nickel corner job, he’s done an excellent job playing out of dime, dollar and quarter as the fourth cornerback. Denver’s defensive backfield quickly went from what some considered a weakness into the offseason to a strength due to the play of role players like Webster.

That’s it guys. Make sure to check in for the next edition of Mile High Mania!

The Broncos' 2015 season can be viewed by many as a move in the positive direction, after finishing a poor 3-13 in 2014 -- which would also happen to be future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning's final season with Denver. With an offseason retool, the team managed to jettison under-performing veterans and infuse an old team with young talent through the draft.

The result? A 9-7 record and closely missing the playoffs by only a single win, which could have easily happened if not for a couple late game collapses during the season. So where are the Broncos headed? Let's take a look after the jump!

The addition of Derrick Johnson bolstered a top-5 defense this season for the Broncos.

2015 Positives:

The 2015 Broncos featured a much improved defense that helped the team lead the league in sacks and defensive touchdowns, while limiting opponents' abilities to run the score up so that the offense could keep in games. Trade acquisition Derrick Johnson played a big part in the defense turn around, racking up 71 tackles, two sacks and seven interceptions at a position that contributed little other than run stopping from incumbent starter Nate Irving in 2014. A revamped pass rush, featuring rookies Sedrick Phillips (11 sacks) and Ray Gray (10 sacks) at defensive tackle, managed to total 59 sacks, with double digit contributions from every starter on the defensive line.

The rookie safety duo of Rodriguez Gilmore and Donel Pickett combined for 115 tackles and four interceptions, replacing Rahim Moore (free agency) and T.J. Ward (trade), who had underwhelmed the year before. Second year cornerback Bradley Roby stepped into a starting role with the departure of Chris Harris (free agency) and struggled to start the season but finished strong, with his six interceptions second total on the team. Rookie LaNeal Sharp, originally thought to be a scheme misfit on draft day, delivered in his first season with four interceptions and solid coverage in nickel and dime packages.

On the offensive side of the ball, Montee Ball once again showed his nose for the endzone, following up on an 11 touchdown sophomore campaign with 12 rushing touchdowns in 2015. Cody Latimer (78/833/4), Emmanuel Sanders (79/1037/9) and rookie Trevor Dial (44/600/5) all flourished while Demaryius Thomas missed time, as the trio were not slowed down by a myriad of quarterback under center for the Broncos in 2015. Julius Thomas put up a solid, yet unspectacular, season with a 52/750/1 split.

2015 Areas to Build On

With that said, the Broncos did finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs, so there is much room for improvement. Focus late into games is a big issue -- Denver went up by multiple score leagues several times this season only to lose in the fourth quarter.

A major point of discussion for the Broncos this offseason will be determining the starting quarterback. Head coach Dan Allen entered the season confident that Zac Dysert would fill that role, but early season struggles in the redzone by Dysert bolstered opposing views and a broken collarbone would ultimately end Dysert's season before he could turn things around. Dysert finished the season with a solid 212/302 (70.2 completion percentage) line, but an 8:19 TD to INT ratio is certainly not encouraging.

Backup Logan Thomas only drew two starts after Dysert's injury, as it becomes apparent that Allen is either too hesitant to push Thomas quickly or doesn't view him as the long term solution. Instead, veteran Tarvaris Jackson was brought in and performed as one would expect from a journeyman QB (110/175/62.9%/1195/12:12) with the Broncos going 2-3 in his five starts. Eliminated from contention prior to week 17, Allen gave the go ahead to Thomas to face the 6-9 Steelers.

Rumors coming out of Mile High give no indication in which direction VP and General Manager John Elway and Allen are looking to go at QB. With two first round pick (DEN & OAK), the Broncos may be looking to move up to grab a suitable QB, or they could stick with Dysert once again and hope that his accuracy issues will resolve themselves to match the solid reads he has made under center -- and thus cut down on turnovers. Seventh-round rookie quarterback Lindsey Barnard did make some limited appearances in 2015, with encouraging results (8/11/71/1:0), making for another interesting option moving forward for the Broncos.

Another issue with Denver's offense this season revolved around the rushing attack. While Denver's running backs seemed able to find the endzone early and often, the team totaled a mere 670 yards on the ground in 2015 -- at an extremely underwhelming 3.15 yards per carry average. A major part of this performance revolved around an aging center in Manny Ramirez who is still a serviceable pass blocker but clearly a detriment in the rushing game, and right tackle Chris Clark, who's overall play was highly questionable throughout the season. Even when placing an additional blocker on the right side, Denver failed to gain much yardage behind Clark's inadequate attempts at blocking lineman resulting in running backs being hit in the backfield often. Elway and Allen have their work cut out for them in piecing together a line that can power forward in the rushing attack and hold up in pass protection.

Offseason Objectives:

-Figure out QB -- is the franchise QB on the roster?-Upgrade the OL -- C and RT are big question marks, and RG Louis Vasquez is on a contract year-Shore up DE -- Demarcus Ware is coming off of a fantastic season, but is 34 and there is no heir apparent-Find a young MLB to develop -- Derrick Johnson was a fantastic addition in 2015, but his age (33) is a concern and Denver needs to find a replacement quickly

That's it for us, folks. Check back in for more offseason coverage as free agency unfolds!